Five guys and myself struck out on hike into the Cohutta Wilderness on a 3 night stay. The weather was very warm for mid-January, even for the south. We hiked in 70 degree weather the first day with very dark clouds, very humid, sweating, and rain threatning.

We had hiked about an hour an half to set up base camp and had just arrived when the bottom fell out. We set our tents up in the rain and hovered under tarps for the evening with no fire and cold supper. That night, a powerful cold front came through and dropped the temperature into the upper 20s! During the transition from rain to snow, I laid down in my tent listening to heavy sleet pound my Sierra Designs Omega Tent. She stood firm. It sounded like it was going to rip right through the tent, but I knew I could rest in comfort.

When I awoke the next morning, there was snow all over the ground. As the temperature dipped down into the mid to upper 20s that day and wind chill's in the teens. Some of us hiked with day packs up into the snow line of the mountains. Seeing the fresh snow with trees frozen in time with ice was something I will never forget. The wind howled through the trees on the mountain tops and the thick ice that coated the trees seemed to sound like wind chimes with the noise they made. What a view!... I still see it in my head right now.

As we returned back to the camp where some of our guys did not make the day trip, we found them hovered aournd our large campground fire with some total strangers accompanying them. Turns out, our campfire was directly beside the main trail and it greeted those who crossed the nearby stream. It was the perfect place to warm up and put your socks/boots back on after crossing the stream.

The guys said they had a constant flow of hikers all day crossing the stream and stopping by to warm up by our fire and talk. While they were telling us this story of the campfire visitors, about 8 young teenagers were crossing the stream beside our camp and came over to the fire. Naturally, some of them had ditched their pants, socks, and boots to cross the bone chilling stream.

When they came over and talked for a minute to warm up, I went over to my tent to get something. I heard them telling my friends to have a good day. When I turned around, I saw 3 of the guys with their backpacks on and shinning vertical smiles (lower portion of their body in the buff) hiking on down the trail. I heard an erruption of chuckle laughter from my fellow campers back over at the campfire and looked up to seem my guys shaking their heads.

I guess 3 of those teenagers decided they could take any cold mother nature could dish out and they didn't need clothes to wear while backpacking in the mid-twenties. As they walked off out of hearing range, one of my 50 year old friends said "oh to be young, dumb, and stupid again". When he said that, I turned to look back at the backpackers only to see the white, bright, vertical smile cheecks of one of the guys through the forest.

We all sat around the fire, errupting in chuckles and sat quietly warming up around the fire. I then realized... THAT is what makes camping out in the outdoors something special. It's not just the breathtaking scenery... it's also the PEOPLE... I will never forget that day.

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The guys enjoying a pleasant mid-January day

... And the bottom fell out

Hunkering down for the night

Snow-covered forest - a rare southern scene!